Pre-Show 78: Control

ShawnMichaels knew he'd have to field a top shelf team with control over Monday Nights on the line in the Pre-Show 78 main event, but it turned out to be serendipity that gave The Invasion the edge over opposing team: The Alliance!

Hokey was the surprise secret weapon for The Invasion -- crossing lines fresh off of being fired from The United! He secured the winning elimination, sparing ShawnMichaels the burden of having to face sudden death. While Hokey neutralized AlbertBeefcake, it was the earlier effort of star recruit Banging that set the team up for their win. He emerged from a hard fought exchange with KFL Champion Statix to score a double elimination, and payback for his title loss at UGP6!

Although The Invasion never officially lost control of Monday Night Invasion, the victory guarantees they'll be back running the show tomorrow - April 18th! It ends The Alliance's two-week coup staged after The Invasion's 0-3 embarrassment at Ultimate Grand Prix VI, which rebranded the show in honor of ICWW Aftershock.

It wasn't all bad news for The Alliance at Pre-Show 78: Oozaru & PaganFreak pursued a UGP grudge match challenge from Jason_Voorhees & edge for a convincing victory. It puts the duo in good stead within the division, but given their role in securing The Alliance's team victory at UGP6, the challenge does seem like a convenient masterstroke to remove the threat by ShawnMichaels. Too bad for him he'll still be on borrowed time when he's trapped alone in the Steel Cage with VenoMark at next week's Supercard 78: Spring Classic [full story]! Also on the losing side - Rhyno & Grayback just short against rxvt & deadly, and The Invasion's Catch 22 Ironize & AcidicWonder upset in a surprise win for Dolce & Bofh!

The Spring Classic also has its Division 2 Championsh challenger! NovaStarr bounced back from a disappointing performance in the 6th Annual UGP Battle Royal, reminding everyone exactly why she's so famously associated with the match type! Nephrite, foahchon and nightbreed_16 found ways to make an impact throughout the match, but the final four turned into a shooting gallery as NovaStarr rode a wave of momentum to knock the targets down. An impressive finish to a match that started with the 1 second elimination of Menas by the eventual winner!

In other results: Loopster brought back former partner chaos_Drone but couldn't eke out a win over the rising comb of McDaniel & fraysol. The American Dream of CCShadow & Scott-Howell was too strong for the spiteful The Greek Crisis. It was all just a little history repeating for returned fighter kingjolly, who once again tasted full impact from Mr. MAX Damage ElJobber!

Pre-Show 78: Control (April 17, 2016):
12. The Invasion defeated The Alliance in a Survivor Sequence match! [5-3]
1. Shen_DuHBK (Invasion) elim. Dez-Burnett (Alliance)
2. Jauger (Alliance) elim. Shen_DuHBK (Invasion)
3. Banging (Invasion) elim. Jauger (Alliance)
4. Banging (Invasion) elim. Statix (Alliance)
5. The_Hurricane (Alliance) elim. Banging (Invasion)
6. DaemonX (Invasion) elim. The_Hurricane (Alliance)
7. AlbertBeefcake (Alliance) elim. DaemonX (Invasion)
8. Hokey (Invasion) elim. AlbertBeefcake (Alliance)
Survivors: Hokey & ShawnMichaels
11. NovaStarr eliminated Chromatose to win the Div.2 #1 Contender Elimination Battle Royal!
1. NovaStarr elim. Menas
2. Bee_07 elim. NightHawk
3. Unknown265 elim. Philip94
4. xort elim. Zentile
5. Nephrite elim. J1sy
6. NovaStarr elim. Killswitch
7. Nephrite elim. The_Rock
8. Nephrite elim. Bee_07
9. Nephrite elim. Unknown265
10. foahchon elim. xort
11. nightbreed_16 elim. Coltess
12. nightbreed_16 elim. Shaggy2Dope
13. foahchon elim. DeathScepter
14. Chromatose elim. nightbreed_16
15. Murdoink elim. JUST_A_TARKATAN
16. NovaStarr elim. Nephrite
17. NovaStarr elim. Murdoink
18. NovaStarr elim. foahchon
19. NovaStarr elim. Chromatose
10. "The Alliance" Oozaru & PaganFreak defeated "The Invasion" Jason_Voorhees & edge [+1]
9. McDaniel & fraysol defeated Loopster & chaos_Drone in a good win! [+1]
8. CCShadow & Scott-Howell defeated "The Greek Crisis" maxilos & proXade in a comprehensive victory! [+1]
7. ElJobber defeated kingjolly in a MAX Damage total annihilation! [+MAX]
6. rxvt & deadly defeated Rhyno & Grayback in a solid result. [+1]
5. MKR & blacksaibot defeated KurtAngle & EricAngle in a convincing victory. [+1]
4. TripleH defeated RomanK in a solid win. [+1]
3. Dolce & Bofh defeated "The Invasion" Ironize & AcidicWonder [+1]
2. avenger45 defeated SubMan799 [+1]
1. Mark & Leroy defeated Liam & nif [+1]